News : BREAKING NEWS: County Department to reduce hours and costs due to efficiency

In news that you rarely see, a government agency said, "Hey, this could be done cheaper by cutting my hours and benefits."

20 hours per week reflects the actual needs of the county veterans, according to Cara Martin, director of Benton County Veterans Affairs. In a refreshing move, Martin decided that the county should reduce her hours. Because of that, she will lose the full-time pay and all the benefits, vacation time, paid time off, sick days, paid holidays as well as any other government benefits.

Currently, Martin has 129 cases pending with Veterans Affairs that will either add a new veteran or adjust benefits for current recipients. With that many cases still pending and the cases that she's updated, she feels as though she has done all that she could do to bring their records up to date. "I should not be paid to twiddle my thumbs that's not fair to the taxpayers," she said. In the near future, she will be changing her hours from 8-noon every day, should the need arise she can adjust those to accommodate area veterans.

Of the 1,080 veterans in Benton County, 405 veterans have qualified for VA disability compensation or a VA pension.

In March, Benton County had 410 veterans receiving $647,451 in benefits each month. As of April, the number went down to 405 due to veteran deaths. However, the total income of these veterans went up to $656,842 countywide.

If you are unsure if you or another veteran qualify for benefits, contact Cara Martin at her office located at 811 D Ave., Suite 34 in Vinton, or call and leave a message at (319) 472-3150. You can also contact the office through Facebook at Benton County, Iowa Veterans Affairs. Her hours will soon be from 8:00 a.m. until noon each day but she WILL get back to you if you simply leave her a message.

The Veterans Affairs page on the county website can be seen HERE.